Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Counter Monkey Review - Superman #13 by: Jesse "the 'hawk" Arnold

WARNING: May contain mild spoilers and will contain personal opinions. (The
views and opinions expressed in this review are solely of the
individual(s) and are not the views of COMIX CONNECTION, its parent,
affiliate, or subsidiary
companies.) I've checked, they don't have any of those. Unless by
"parent" you're referring to Bill. Which he is. But not to us.The IDEA
Superman
is basically E.T. Only he looks like a human, and gets powers in our
sun. Also, he was sent here by his 'rents to spare him dying on their
soon to be expired home world. Okay, so it is nothing like E.T. save
the fact that neither titular character comes from this
oblate-spheroid-ish place we call Earth.

Writer: Scott LobdellWhatever
you may think about the guy, I really liked this issue. I've never
really been a fan of Superman comics. And frankly, to continue with my
honest streak, I picked it up for the art. That said, I am a fan of the
concept of Superman. The only sequential issues of Supes I've ever
read was the Azzarello/Lee arc For Tomorrow. Which, having just
recently reread it, still confuses the ever-loving-snot out of me. So,
thanks to the art of Kenneth Rocafort, I've now picked up #0 and #13 and
added the book to my subscriptions."

What am I supposed to be going on about here? Oh right, Lobdell.
Let me say, that I nearly jumped off my seat when I saw Clark's tirade
about the power of journalism to Morgan Edge, ending with;

I am not the only one who believes
in the power of the press - the fact that we need to stand up for the
truth. For justice. And yeah - I'm not ashamed to say - the American
way!

That got me stoked. Now, I'm not a flag waving crazy
person. But when I did read Action Comics #1 last year and saw Lois
say, "Truth, Justice, and the way," I was really bummed. I get why, and
what they were going for...but this whole self-loathing American
attitude in American publications has got to stop. Truth, Justice, and
the American Way is, as far as I'm concerned, as much a part of Superman
as the blue, red, and yellow of his costume. True he's a larger than
life character, and he is more than American, it was nice to see it
back. As well as his pining for Lois.

So, thanks Mr. Lobdell (not sarcastic) for bringing that back to
this book. I'm invested in this story, beyond those lines, and really
interested to see where this goes. I really liked Kara's (been hooked
on her book since the New 52 relaunch) appearance and what she tells
Clark about the beast he is fighting. This crossover H'el on Earth,
looks to be quite interesting. Plus, Clark randomly winds up in
Ireland. Something this...child of Irish heritage...always McEnjoys!

PENCILS:Kenneth Rocafort
His pencils were what made Red Hood and the Outlaws a book I looked
forward to every month. Sad to see him leave that book, as I had
started to enjoy the characters. But, my budget is limited. So, I'm
here with Superman. I love the non-inked pencils with color style. Or
if he does ink, it's a loose and rough style. I like that he's working
in a bit of the personality of Henry Cavil into his depiction of
Clark/Supes, and that he's not sticking with the overly product filled
hair of Superman. Cause seriously, there ain't enough hair gel, spray,
paste or glue to keep those raven locks curled and coiffed when flying
as fast, or fighting as hard as Superman does.

Since that's why I read comics. Realism in physics.

I also really enjoy the flow of action and the way Rocafort breaks up the page and panels. Well done sirs. Well done.

RESULTS:4 out of 5 Priest Collared Kryptonian Suits You know that's what it looks like.

I'd say this book is super, but that'd be kind of redundant and/or pretentious. So let's go with freaking awesome.